Misplaced Modifiers/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim and Moby are sitting in a small boat, fishing. Tim's line is in the water. Moby's fishing pole has a soda can hanging from it. He is texting on his phone. His MyFace text reads: Fishing today... I only caught an old soda can. TIM: Are you going to spend your whole vacation on that thing? MOBY: Beep. TIM: Fine. Then I'm answering a letter. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, My aunt says my emails are filled with misplaced modifiers. What is she talking about? Thanks, Theo. In grammar, modifiers describe or alter the meaning of another word or phrase. Text reads: modifiers. TIM: Like how adjectives illustrate something about a noun, or adverbs explain the way you did something. A diagram shows that adverbs and adjectives are two kinds of modifiers. MOBY: Beep. TIM: A misplaced modifier is when these words are positioned incorrectly. That can twist the meaning of your sentences, and make them sound awkward or confusing. Like this caption from your Insta-Snap feed. Tim looks at his smartphone. Moby's Insta-Snap feed shows a picture of him sitting by a campfire, holding a mug. The picture's caption reads: Enjoying a hot cup of cocoa. TIM: You wrote, "Enjoying a hot cup of cocoa." Adjectives generally modify the word that comes right after them. Here, you're really saying that the cup was hot. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, I know it probably was, but you really meant the cocoa. "Enjoying a cup of hot cocoa" leaves no room for confusion. An image shows the same picture of Moby, with a caption that now reads: Enjoying a cup of hot cocoa. TIM: And most times, our sentences don't have helpful pictures to go along with them. Like your status update from yesterday. You wrote, "I almost swam all day." An image shows Moby's feed. Text reads: Vacation rocks! I almost swam all day. MOBY: Beep. TIM: In this sentence, "almost" is modifying "swam." So it means that all day long, you came close to swimming but never actually swam. Which would be, uh, false. Images on Tim's phone show Moby on the shore of a lake, but not getting into the water. TIM: Put "almost" next to the word or phrase it's describing. Text on Tim's phone changes to read: Vacation rocks! I swam almost all day. TIM: You didn't almost swim. You did swim, almost all day. An image on Tim's phone shows Moby swimming in the lake. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yup. "Only" follows the same rules. It modifies whatever comes right after it. "I only caught an old soda can." An image on Tim's phone shows Moby's post that reads: Fishing today. I only caught an old soda can. The image of the soda can hanging from the fishing line is shown. TIM: So, of all the things you could have done with this can, you only caught it. You didn't dance with it, play chess, or see a movie. Images show Moby and the can doing all three of the things Tim describes. TIM: To correct this sentence, put "only" right before "an old soda can." Moby's post changes to read: Fishing today. I caught only an old soda can. MOBY: Beep. TIM: It's not just single words. Phrases can be modifiers, too. Text reads: modifiers. A line connects it to the word "adverbs." Another line connects the word "modifiers" to the word "adjectives." Two additional lines appear under the word “modifiers." One connects to the words "prepositional phrases" and the other connects to the words “verb phrases." TIM: And they need to be placed in the right position. Here's one: "I made s'mores for Tim with extra-large marshmallows." An image shows a post of Moby's with an image of Tim sitting by a campfire eating s'mores. Text reads: I made s'mores for Tim with extra-large marshmallows. The word "Tim" is colored purple. The phrase "with extra-large marshmallows" is colored red because it modifies the word "Tim.” TIM: I believe the s'mores had extra-large marshmallows, not me. You need to move the prepositional phrase closer to s'mores. The text of Moby's post changes to read: I made s'mores with extra-large marshmallows for Tim. Now the word "s'mores" is in purple because it is modified by the prepositional phrase. TIM: Even though the initial sentence sounded okay, it's incorrect. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Be extra careful when you start a sentence with a modifying phrase. "Ready to go at the crack of dawn, our day was one giant adventure." Text of a post reads: Ready to go at the crack of dawn, our day was one giant adventure. TIM: This sounds like the day itself was ready to go. An image shows a calendar in a sleeping bag, yawning as it wakes up. TIM: Whatever you're describing needs to come right after the introductory phrase. Who was up at the crack of dawn? MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right. We were. But we're not even in the sentence. When the word you're modifying is missing, that's called a dangling modifier. The yawning calendar in the sleeping bag reappears, as does the text: Ready to go at the crack of dawn, our day was one giant adventure. TIM: A simple tip is to place the modified word right after the comma. The text changes to read: Ready to go at the crack of dawn, we made our day one giant adventure. The text's image changes to a yawning Tim and Moby in sleeping bags. TIM: There are lots of ways to correct dangling modifiers. Additional text reads: Excited for our day of adventure, we were ready to go at the crack of dawn. TIM: So, try out different approaches until your sentence is clear. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Squinting modifiers are another special category. You can't tell if they're modifying the words before or after them. Another one of Moby's posts reads: Tim reminded me on Sunday we'd have to leave. TIM: "Tim reminded me on Sunday we'd have to leave." Did I remind you on Sunday? Or did we have to leave on Sunday? Side by side images appear beneath Moby's post. Each illustrates one of the two possibilities Tim suggests. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, we know what happened. But someone reading this would have no idea. Let's change it to: "Tim reminded me that we'd have to leave on Sunday." The text changes to read: Tim reminded me that we'd have to leave on Sunday. TIM: See? Now all your sentences are clear. Ooh, except for this one. Tim reads another of Moby's posts. TIM: "Tim kept me up snoring all night." Text reads: Tim kept me up snoring all night. TIM: It sounds like you were the one snoring, instead of... wait a second, I don't snore. Moby pulls his fishing hat down over his face, leans back in the boat, and ignores Tim. TIM: I, I don't. Do I? Tim and Moby sit all night in the boat on the lake. Sunrise eventually arrives. TIM: Yeah, I don't. Right? Moby still does not reply. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts